Leagues are forming for the inaugural season of Four Seasons Curling Club at Fogerty Arena

League registration is open for the new Four Seasons Curling Club, located at Fogerty Arena, 9250 Lincoln St. N.E., Blaine.

John Benton, member of the USA 2010 Olympic Curling Team and the new Four Seasons Curling Club, is looking forward to the inaugural season at Fogerty Arena, anticipated to begin in early December. Photo courtesy of Mark Clasen

The 12-week leagues are expected to start in early December and run into March. Start dates are to be determined, depending on progress on the new curling facility currently under construction at Fogerty Arena.

League times are spread throughout the week and at different hours of the day to accommodate a variety of schedules. Leagues include doubles, mixed, seniors, juniors and open. The schedule is available at www.FourSeasonsCurlingClub.com.

League prices vary for seniors, juniors and club members. They range from $85 for juniors to $275 for non-club members.

An annual club membership is optional. Benefits of club membership include priority registration and discounts. For a limited time, Founders Club memberships are available that include additional benefits, such as a free locker for life and free use of the facilities for corporate or group events.

The leagues are managed by the Four Seasons Curling Club, a newly formed volunteer organization that is making The Ice House at Fogerty home.

The club attracts people of all ages and abilities, according to John Benton, club member and USA Olympic Curling Team 2010 member.

“We’re so excited to have a brand new, world class facility in Blaine at Fogerty to serve the broad spectrum of novice, amateur and elite athletes in the sport,” Benton said.

Ground was broken at the end of May on the 28,100 square-foot addition to Fogerty Arena. The facility will house up to six sheets for curling on dedicated, year-round ice.

Year-round curling ice is hard to find, according to Benton, making this an attractive training facility for elite athletes.

Other features of the $3.7 million construction project include a full-service bar and restaurant with an outdoor patio, men’s and women’s locker rooms, a spacious two tier viewing area, wheel chair accessibility, game and vending area, as well as, a large lounge for curlers with a rustic fireplace to gather around with friends and family after games. One hundred new parking spaces will be available for the facility, as well as, for other events and activities in nearby Aquatore Park.

State-of-the-art refrigeration equipment will replace a 30-year-old system currently serving Fogerty’s south rink. The upgraded system will serve both hockey players and curlers, even though the ice and the sports are quite different.

Curling ice is different from hockey ice. Curling ice is pebbled, allowing only a small portion of the 42-pound granite stone to touch the ice at any one time. The stones are delivered down the ice by teams of four players. Players sweep the area in front of the moving stone with their broom, which helps the stone travel further and straighter toward the goal of coming to rest in the rings, also called the house.

Corporate and group rentals will be offered and will include equipment to curl plus an instructor.